Thursday, November 26, 2009

Raw - VeganKale Salad

When I first came across Kale, I was very intimidated by it. At first I danced around it, I threw it in my shakes, but never ate it as a salad. But, as time past, I wanted to try eating it just as a salad...and so I did. Its not as bitter as I thought it would be and its actually quite tasty if its mixed with the right ingredients; I always mix in a sweet fruit, like grapes or an apple to sweeten it up.

Ingredients:

1 apple, or a cup of grapes cut in halves

a bunch of kale, cut up into smaller peices

from here you can add in any veggies you have in the fridge :)

mushrooms

peppers

avacado

carrots

onions

.....you get the idea

Toss all ingredients you choose in a bowl, add some olive oil and salt and pepper...tadummm!

Protein is so essential for vegetarians; we miss out on all the protein that many meat eaters get on a daily basis. For many people out there, they believe that the protein industry is just a way of making money, and although this is true for a lot of body builders and gym enthusiasts, WE DO NEED PROTEIN for our bodies to function; it is what keep our cells functioning. Protein is the building blocks of hormones, enzymes, muscles, and our immune system. So knowing this, don't go out to a gym and buy the first can of protein that you see...go to a health food store, talk to a manager and get their advice...READ the ingredients. If you are RAW, there is RAW hemp protein powder out there. If you are vegan, go find a vegan protein...right now I am using Vegan Proteins+ as shown in the picture down below...its absolutely delicious and it uses the natural flavouring of vanilla beans.

For me because I eat eggs, I go ahead and add a raw egg to my shake every once and a while for added protein, but obviously, if you are vegan and if you are fully raw, this isnt something I think is necessary! :)

These are a fairly simple meal, you can pretty much add in any kind of vegetable that you want! The trick is finding RAW nori, a lot of places dont sell it, so go to a larger health food store, or call around first!

Ingredients (pick any of these vegetables and any amount, or add in your own)

Raw Nori slices

cut up olives

cut up red peppers

cut up carrots

cut up letuce

sprouts

sliced avacado

etc.

Now, lay out the nori sheet, put some mashed up avacado along the edge so that when you roll it they stick together. Lay out your vegetables a quarter of the way up the sheet, and roll! Cut them into about 5 peices per sheet. I sprinkled some onion salt and hemp seeds on top just for taste.

Cake: Put avacados in Vita-Mix, along with coconut oil, your choice of either the protien powder or raw cacao powder and the honey or agave. Blend til creamy!

Crust: Put nuts and dates in food processor. Ta-dumm...spread out into a round circle, I used a pie dish to make it round, then I took it out and put it on a plate

Dressing: Mix ingredients in blender and put aside.

Now, take the cake ingredients and pile it onto the crust, spread it out so its even and in a circle, I left it so there was still a little bit of crust all around the cake. Once youve done this, I poured the dressing on the cake, leaving a little bit aside for when the cake is being cut. Then I sprinkled some coconut on top...and thats it. Put in freezer for a few hours! Serve with extra chocolate dressing.

Friday, November 13, 2009

The World Health Organisation describes a genetically modified organism as an organism in which the DNA has been altered in a way that would not have occurred naturally, and also the cross transfer of genes from one species to another, whether or not they are related (WHO). Genetically modified organisms also go by an assortment of different names such as “modern biotechnology”, “gene technology”, “recombinant DNA technology” or “genetic engineering”. Any of these names can be used interchangeably, as they each have the same definitions, and the same outcomes.

The following list comes from a bunch of different research papers out there, that conducted studies on rats, mice, pigs, etc....each of the studies lasted anywhere from a week to 90 days:

Health Issues

-they found changes in their intestinal system, abnormalities in the liver and kidneys, an increase in bacteria,

-an immune system response that was noted was the increase of three types of blood cells, basophils, lymphocytes and total white blood cell count, and additionally more sluggish immune systems and also inflammatory responses were recorded,

-rats gave birth to a large quantity of stunted babies, and nearly half the litter was dead by three weeks,-Bovine Growth Hormone was given to cows every two weeks (which about 17 percent of milk cows in the US are inserted with), and found that they had around 10 times the amount of insulin growth factor, known to give humans breast, colon and prostate cancer,-rats actually had smaller brains, smaller livers and smaller and discoloured testicles.Environmental issues-GMOs try to protect themselves by killing off targeted weeds, therefore creating super weeds which find their way to adapt to the herbicides,-The same thing has been documented with pests, where they actually become super pests, who become resistant overtime as they try to adapt to the pesticides,

-Another large issue is the loss of biodiversity. What scares many environmentalists is that because GMs are becoming so abundant, they may outgrow the native crops. This is how loss of biodiversity happens; larger companies monopolize crops, gain rights to them, and consequently take out the smaller farmers, and all of the organic nutrition that goes along with them,

-Terminator seeds. These are sterile seeds that are produced by large companies, so that every year instead of the farmer saving his seeds like he normally would, he has to keep buying the terminator seeds from the large companies because they rot in the ground every year.

So when our governments say that there are no problems with GMOs in the human body, think twice. These are only short term studies that have been documented...and GMOs have only been in existance for about 14 years or so...think about what happens in the long term to your body. The government will continue to deny, because well...theyre in it for the money. So ask yourself...where do all these new diseases come from, how come we have such a great risk of developing disease? Think. Ask questions. Don't just buy because its cheaper, because its not in the long run. Dont eat things that are so unnatural, your body wont recognize it. Eat fresh, each local, eat organic, eat conciously...meet your farmer. ASK QUESTIONS.

SAY NO TO GMOs!!

i do not claim any of the above information to be mine, so feel free to ask for references <3

Put all ingredients into the blender, and blend until smooth. Spread onto a teflon sheet, not tooo thin, or they will just break (fill the whole sheet and shape it into a square), and dehydrate for 4 hours flip them cut them into as big of pieces as you want, and dehydrate for another 2 hours, so that they aren't crispy, but bendable. Then fill them up with whatever veggies you've got in the fridge, and put a little olive oil on for dressing with salt and pepper!

I suggest that everybody watches this movie...literally everyone. If you eat, you need to watch it. Did you know that McDonalds played a part in creating the tomatos that you bought at the supermarket? Or the lettuce in the salad you just made. Did you know that the majority of food in the supermarket is all controled by a total of about 3 or 4 major companies, which only care about profit? For the meat eaters out there, do you know what is done to your meat? Do you know what fillers are used, what chemicals are used, and what harm is done not only to the animals, but the environment as well. Do you know who makes your food? Are you allowed to look inside the kitchen of where your food is processed? These are the types of questions that this movie starts to answer. It suggests to BUY LOCALLY, meet your farmers, grow your own gardens! It doesn't attempt to make you feel guilty, it attempts to make you aware, to ask the questions you deserve to know. And truthfully, the only way that we can stop the poor handling of our food is by doing something about it ourselves, its in the consumers hands, we are the only ones that can make the big companies change.

On this site you will find all sorts of ways to live more consciously, from healthy raw and vegan recipes, to healthy practices to rid yourself of mind and ego.I called this website, 'Presently Conscious' because I understand that life is a paradox...one minute we are presently conscious, trying to rid ourselves of all negativity, but the next minute we might fall back into our old habits. Its always two steps forward and one step back...this too is the way. But if we can try our hardest everyday to make positive changes for ourselves, and the ones around us, then this to me is success.